


bloom

by hoeformodric



Category: Dinamo Zagreb, Men's Football RPF
Genre: Chaptered, Gay Male Character, Gay Sex, Homophobia, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-13 06:20:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21489757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoeformodric/pseuds/hoeformodric
Summary: Dominik i BrunoZa Anju i Saru
Relationships: Dominik Livaković/Bruno Petković
Kudos: 21





	1. CHAPTER ONE

As a young boy Dominik always pictured himself playing professional club football in some major clubs such as Barcelona or Real Madrid. He never thought of himself as good enough to actually do it, but he had dreams, just like every child.

Being a goalkeeper was his primary thing in secondary school, because he was too shy to actually speak up and say he wanted to play, but he didn’t mind being the goalkeeper. Even though he wasn’t the tallest or the bulkiest he showed potential and his dad liked that in him.

His mom, though, wanted him to finish schools and then he will be able to do football professionally. And he listened to her, because he knew football may not work out and that without school, he would be nothing in life. He finished high school and even started college but as he got the spot in the first team and Dinamo became better and better, he had to drop out.

His dad wasn’t the happiest when he signed for Dinamo, of course, but he knew it’s the best for his future and forgot about the rivalry and enjoyed his son living the life he deserved.

As Dinamo got better and better and new faces started pouring into the locker room, Dominik was afraid he would become the shy little boy he always was once again. He wasn’t loud or anything, but he was able to talk to everyone and not just stay aside and watch.

He wasn’t prepared for what was coming in the upcoming few years.

\--

FALL 2019

\--

Maksimir was lit up in the most beautiful, toned down yellow color coming from the old lanterns along the main path. Dominik and Bruno finished their evening training hours ago but decided to take a walk and talk a bit.

Maksimir was empty because it was cold, colder than it was supposed to be for a November, but they just wanted some time for themselves. The air was filled with their laughter and stupid jokes Bruno was shooting.

They were out of their training clothes, not even carrying the big training bags on their shoulders and people who passed by them here and there didn’t even recognize them, because of the darkness and them being almost hidden by their scarfs and beanies.

Maksimir finally emptied out completely and Bruno and Dominik found a place to sit to rest before going back to the parking lot of the stadium and going home. Bruno tried making eye contact with Dominik, but it was clear that Dominik was avoiding his eyes, until he felt a hand on his hand, and he had to look up.

Bruno moved closer and closer, and finally when their breaths were almost intertwining Bruno pulled Dominik closer and kissed him.

\--

WINTER 2018

\--

It was one of the last games in the group, they were already first in group, but they were still planning on winning or at least trying.

Dominik woke up early, roamed around the apartment for not long and packed his bag. He kissed Helena goodbye and waved to his dog sadly looking at him on the floor. He left his house around 8 in the morning and arrived at the stadium in less than 15 minutes.

A lot of his teammates were already there, and he was sleepy and not excited about the trip. When everyone arrived at the stadium, they all put their bags on the bus and started driving to the airport. Mislav sat next to him and they started talking about the games and how proud they were of everyone.

All of their conversations were about the games and their success but it was such a new thing for them, even though they were always successful, they were never this successful in Europe and only last year European Spring was something they could only dream of and now their dreams are coming true.

They arrived at the airport soon and the flight went by fast. When they arrived in the hotel, they got the keys to their rooms and Dominik decided he wanted to go for a walk and then go to his room. Mislav asked him if everything is okay, and Dominik just nodded and asked if he could maybe find someone to bring his bags up to his room. Mislav silently nodded and pushed him slowly on the shoulder.

Dominik found a small path going around the hotel and he started walking around observing everything around him and rapidly thinking. He hated when his thoughts were tangling, especially a few days before a game, but he couldn’t help it, and he realized it was happening more often.

He knew something else was bothering him, he knew something else was in his mind besides just football, but he didn’t want to go deeper in his thoughts to find out what was it. He wanted to be focused on football and only football, so he started running to move the thoughts from his mind and it helped.

He arrived at the hotel after a whole hour of running and he asked the receptionist which is his room because he gave his key to Mislav and forgot the number.

“453, fourth floor to the left as you exit the main elevator. Do you need another key?”, “No, thank you, my roommate is probably in the room, so he’ll open the doors.” Dominik thanked the receptionist once again and entered the elevator. He exited it moments later and found his room.

He knocked and waited for Mislav to open. “Stižem!”, Dominik heard a voice that was not Mislav’s and choked a bit when he realized he must’ve knocked on the wrong doors, but he looked up to see the number the receptionist told him his room is.

“Oprosti, bio sam u tušu.”, Dominik looked at the tall figure that opened the doors for him. Still a bit damp from the water his body was glistening, and Dominik was trying to find the strength to move his eyes from the figure’s body to his face, but it was almost impossible. “Ajde, ulazi, šta stojiš tu na vratima.”.

Dominik was basically pulled inside by the strong hands and when he entered the room he finally looked up to see Bruno, the same Bruno that was just becoming the big star of Dinamo, the same Bruno that played only HNL games just a few months ago, the same Bruno that was the kindest and humblest teammates of all of them.

They were never really close, and they just talked here and there, and Dominik never noticed him as anything more than just a teammate. He never thought they would be spending three nights together, especially not because he always asked for a room with Mislav because he hated being put in situations like this.

“Oprosti, znam da si ti uvijek sa Mislavom, ali ovako je ispalo, nadam se da ti ja ne smetam.”. Dominik nodded and smiled finally after almost 3 minutes of silence from his side and finally spoke up: “Mislio sam da ću vidit kržljavog Mislava na vratima, a kad ono stijena ispred mene.”. He chuckled and moved his stare to somewhere else because Bruno was still standing in front of him half-naked.

“Ajme, ja se tek sad sjetio da sam gol.”, Dominik started laughing maybe a bit too loud, but it made Bruno laugh too so Dominik didn’t regret anything. Bruno quickly went to the bathroom and left Dominik alone in the room. The first thing he did was open his phone and call Mislav.

“Pa, mislim oprosti, ali koji kurac?” He was trying to sound angry but that was almost impossible because he was whispering, “HA?” “U kojoj si ti sobi, i zašto nisam i ja tamo?”, Mislav laughed and answered politely making fun of Dominik’s cursing: “S Mariom u 539, Nenad tako odlučio, žao mi je momče, morat ćeš ovih dana biti socijalan i s drugim ljudima a ne samo samnom.”, Dominik laughed and ended the call just as Bruno reentered the room, this time dressed, but still tall and handsome.

Dominik was sitting on one of the beds and scooted a bit so Bruno could sit down next to him. He sat quickly and confidently and turned his head to Dominik and observed him for a bit. “Možda se ovih dana napokon malo bolje upoznamo, šta kažeš na to?”, Dominik smiled and answered with a quiet yes and a shy nod.

Bruno pushed him slightly and stood up. He found some drinks in the mini-fridge they got in their room and opened them and asked Dominik to sit with him outside on the balcony. The sun was down for a long town and the smell of rain was in the air.

Dominik sat on the chair outside, too far from Bruno which made the whole scene more awkward than it was supposed to be, but even though Dominik felt like he will fall through the ground because of the tension, Bruno looked like he was the most relaxed he could ever be.

“Pa ja ne znam ništa o tebi osim što se priča po novinama, nova mlada nada, vidim uskoro ćeš i postat prvi golman reprezentacije…” Bruno laughed at the end and quickly continued, “Pa kolko ti godina imaš uopće?”, Dominik shyly smiled and looked to the ground and softly said: “24.”. Bruno smiled and looked up and answered, “Mlađi od mene a već prvi golman reprezentacije, svaka čast.”

Dominik hated being flattered, but this time it didn’t bother him so much, he kind of enjoyed it from Bruno’s side and he didn’t even realize it. “Pa ne znam šta da kažem na sve ove komplimente , hvala.”, “Zaslužio si ti to, gledo sam te ja.”.

Dominik felt his heart jump a bit when he heard that coming from Bruno’s mouth and he again questions himself why, but he didn’t get the answer. “Ali dobro, zanimaš me ti, a ne tvoja karijera trenutno.”.

Dominik laughed and spoke up finally: “Pa, tu sam u Zagrebu već koje dve godine, snalazim se, valjda…”, Bruno looked at Dominik under one eyebrow and pushed his chair closer to his. “Sramežljiv, tajanstven, nesiguran. Morat ću se dobro potrudit da išta saznam o tebi.”

Dominik hid his face in the shadow of the light that was falling directly on Bruno’s face and smiled. He hated being introverted and shy, but he couldn’t go against himself and he loved that Bruno was so outgoing and confident. He needed friends like that

“A cure? Kako to ide?” Dominik put on a serious face and started struggling to answer, “A ide, nekako, valjda, bilo je savršeno na početku, a sad se samo udaljavamo.”, Bruno’s eyebrows lifted and he turned his face closer to Dominik; “Napokon pa da si malo progovorio, ali žao mi je što se ljubav ohladila. Znam kako ti je doduše, ja ne mogu nać normalnu curu, nema Boga.”

Dominik smiled slightly but then frowned at the thought of what he just said to one of his teammates about his girlfriend. He never talked to her about those serious topics like their relationship because lately they really never saw each other. And as Dominik was overthinking it more, he realized how big of a truth that is and he couldn’t believe he finally untangled the problem that was bothering him for more than a few days now.


	2. CHAPTER TWO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> =/

Zagreb was cold, colder than it was supposed to be, colder than it was when they away from it few days ago. Dominik entered his house with steady face on, not too many expressions and not too many emotions inside him.

Helena wasn’t home and he didn’t want to say he was happy about it, but he was definitely pleased he had some time to think for himself. 

Helena was one of his favorite people and he really loved her, but he loved her differently than he was supposed to, and he was always sure he will be able to fake forever, but something was changing and was still unsure about what it is.

Just as he laid down on his bed and thought of unpacking his phone beeped with the sound of a new message. “Helena it is.”, he thought to himself, but when he picked up his phone to look at the message on the screen, he realized it’s a message from Bruno.

They exchanged numbers, finally, maybe they were supposed to do it before with the fact they are playing in the same team for almost six months now. They always had each other’s numbers in their phone, because of the Dinamo WhatsApp group chat, but they never saved them. And now finally they did. 

Bruno’s name on the screen pleased out a smile from Dominik which wasn’t intended. He opened the messages and read it out loud for some unknown reason even to him.

“Sutra, 8:00, Johann?”

Dominik didn’t even think about if he had any other important events or appointments, he just quickly replied “Ja sam za.”

He turned off his phone and started folding clothes from his bag back to the closet and then he heard doors open and dog noises. Helena and his dog were home. 

He stood up from the bed and continued folding clothes like nothing happened and waved to Helena when she entered the bedroom. She moved closer to him kissed him lightly on the cheek and sat down on the bed removing her coat and cap so she can lie down.

Cruz, their dog, rushed down the hallway and almost bumped into their bed, but he was so happy about seeing Dominik. Dominik hugged him and snuggled him into his arms, but Cruz being Cruz started howling out of happiness which brought a slight smile to Dominik’s tired face.

While Cruz was settling down a bit and started getting sleepy, Helena was reading a book, getting cozy under the sheets while Dominik was walking around the house thinking about everything. He finally shook his head and raised his voice from kitchen, so Helena was able to hear him all the way to their room. “Šta ćemo za večeru?”.

Helena walked out of the room soon, still cozy in her night gown and moved closer to Dominik. She kissed him slowly on the lips and hugged him. “Ajmo negdje van. Nismo dugo bili na dejtu.” Dominik sighed but agreed silently by nodding and they started to get ready.

The restaurant was half empty, since it was Friday, it was a bit weird, but it was only 6:00 PM and people usually crowd any place in the city at around 8. Helena sat with her back facing the doors, so Dominik was bound to sit across from the doors, so he was able to see anyone who comes in.

They ordered soon enough, and the food arrived pretty quickly since there wasn’t many people. But since the rush hour of restaurants was coming closer, many more people were coming in and it was getting crowded.

“Kakva je tvoja salata?”, Helena laughed at Dominik while she ate a tasty Carbonara scattered around her small white plate. Dominik rolled his eyes and took a bite of his salad with a piece of chicken in it. As he was chewing it, he saw someone tall and well-known coming in. It was Bruno.

Dominik quickly moved his eyes away from the doors and back to Helena who was waiting for an answer to a question Dominik didn’t hear. “Sori, možeš ponovit?”, Helena put down her fork and looked significantly at Dominik for a few seconds, “Mogu, al daj me slušaj. U zadnje vrijeme stalno lutaš negdje dok smo zajedno.”. Dominik wasn’t able to say it wasn’t true because that would be a lie, so he just nodded, still avoiding looking at the rest of the restaurant in fear Bruno might see him.

“Pitala sam te jel imaš kakve planove sutra navečer.”, Dominik, still distracted by avoiding Bruno just nodded in a negative direction and Helena smiled widely. “Onda sutra idemo van, ko danas samo malo kasnije, mogli bi u klub. Šta kažeš?”. “Da, da može, šta god ti želiš.”

At that moment Dominik lifted his look just a bit over Helena to see Bruno and few of his other friends including Mislav sitting close to the doors. Mislav saw him and started waving to which Dominik cringed and smiled lightly. Helena turned around and saw all of them sitting around a big table mocking their date by acting like they are all on a date and making sounds of kissing. Helena rolled her eyes and smiled, “Odi ih pozdravi, al da si se vratio za pet minuta.”.

Dominik stood up like he was stung by a bee and practically ran to their table. “A kakva je ovo opsada na mene?”, all of them laughed except Bruno who was a bit distant. He quickly snapped out of whatever that was bothering him and looked up at Dominik. “Zašto si ti sad ovdje dok te tako prelijepa djevojka čeka tamo?”. All of them started hysterically laughing, but Dominik just slapped his forehead and waved to them and went back to his table.

Helena already ate her meal when he came back. He approached the table and she, before he was able to sit down, kissed him and they were able to hear a group “Ooooooo!” behind them. Helena smiled and Dominik just gestured to them to stop. He looked at Bruno who was carelessly laughing with the rest of the boys and he didn’t know why he was feeling uneasy.

\--

It was almost 7:00 PM, Dominik was deciding if he would go for a run before his date with Helena because they were supposed to leave their apartment at around 9 or even later so he had time. Helena was out with Cruz so he was waiting for her to get back so he could go and run. As he was getting ready to undress and took his running clothes, his phone rang. He picked it up without even looking at the picture on the screen and answered.

“Ej, ja dolazim iz drugog smjera pa ću vjerojatno kasnit 10-ak minuta, jel to okej?”, Dominik moved his phone from his ear back to the level of his eyes and saw Bruno’s name. He then remembered he was supposed to go out with him in less than an hour. Dominik had to not look startled, so he swallowed dryly and answered: “Da, da sve pet.”, “Okej odlično, onda se vidimo.”.

Dominik hung up the phone and started panicking a bit. How was he supposed to tell Helena he is cancelling their date? She would kill him, and he knew that. But he calmed down soon enough and dressed up in some random jeans and a dark gray hoodie and sat down.

Helena sat down at the kitchen counter when she entered the room and started taking off her boots. She looked at Dominik in slight confusion as though he was already dressed up and they were supposed to leave in more than two hours.

“Slušaj, nemoj se ljutit na mene sad, okej?”, Helena listened silently to Dominik and raised her eyebrow questioning the situation. “Da čujem.”. Dominik sighed and finally muttered what he was almost certain will cause a fight. “Nemremo van večeras.”.

Helena stood up from the counter and put her boots to the side. She came closer to Dominik and sat closer to him, because he was at the kitchen table.

“Kakav problem se dogodio?”, she was weirdly low-voiced and calm and Dominik was questioning if she will just burst after he says the reason or not. “Dogovorio sam se s Brunom za van i u potpunosti zaboravio na to kad sam ti jučer reko da nemam ništa danas.”

Helena nodded, stood up, kissed Dominik on the cheek and said, “Ići ćemo drugi put.”, she then proceeded to walk away to their room and shut the door closed behind her. But it wasn’t an irritated shut, it was just closing the doors, normally.

Dominik was confused because he didn’t know if she was mad, sad, frustrated or nothing from above. He entered the room and saw Helena getting dressed into her pajamas, looking calm and, almost, happy.

“Alo, ajde, zakasnit ćeš.”, Dominik kissed her goodbye once more and practically flew out of the apartment.

He was there in no time, going with the car it took him about 10 minutes and when he arrived at the cafe, he had to wait for Bruno to come. The waiter came and asked him what he wanted to drink, but he said he was waiting for someone.

In about 15 minutes Bruno finally arrived at the cafe and with a glance over it looked for Dominik. Dominik waved and Bruno soon after arrived at their table.

“Pa kako si danas mladi gospodine?”, Bruno started with his usual, as Dominik figured from the small amount of time they were hanging out. The waiter arrived, took their order and quickly congratulated them for their European Spring.

They were there until closing, talking about everything there was to talk about. Bruno described his whole family and childhood and exclaimed how much he wanted to be in the National Team, which made Dominik a bit proud of himself. Dominik told him all about his parents and Zadar and about Helena and Cruz and how much he loved them both, and he realized when he came to that theme, the atmosphere changed, and Bruno became quieter.

Dominik quickly changed the topic to football because he didn’t want to be the only one talking. So they started battling with whose team is better, of course they were both Dinamo fans, but besides that Dominik loved Real Madrid which made Bruno angry as he was a Barcelona fan, Also, that couldn’t stop there, Bruno was a big fan of Juventus while Dominik had a big passion for Inter. 

They laughed and lightly fought about their teams longer than they were supposed to. They finally found the one team they agreed on, Bayern. Dominik loved Bayern because of Neuer and his amazing skills, while Bruno supported it mainly because of Lewandowski. 

But after football theme ended, Bruno quickly switched their conversation back to love life and their life in Zagreb which surprised Dominik since Bruno was so bummed out when he started talking about Helena. 

“Znači Helena? Super neka cura, bar mi se čini.”, “Pa evo pustila me s tobom van, odma znaš da je super.”, Bruno laughed and pushed Dominik a bit with his strong hand.

He continued asking him some weird and maybe too personal questions, but Dominik being Dominik answered them all.

“Pa kako ti je živit s njom, mislim ono taj život u dvoje, još sa psom, jel komplicirano to?”, “Pa i nije, kad voliš nekoga onda želiš živjet s njim pa ti sve prepreke nisu problem.” 

Bruno smirked and asked: “A bilo je prepreka?”, Dominik frowned a bit and questioned himself why Bruno was asking all of these questions, and why was he still answering. But he still answered of course, because he didn’t want to seem like was hiding something, or like he was thinking about someone other than Helena in the past few days, which he clearly was.

“Naravno da je bilo. Ljubomora na početku, mediji, tu i tamo koja ne slaganja, pa onda sumnjanje u ljubav,” he stopped for a second and looked at Bruno who was almost sucking all of this information in as though he was learning and made Dominik a bit confused but he still continued, “pa onda smo i kupili Cruza, zbog te sumnje, ono ko kad ljudi naprave dijete da spase brak, mi smo kupili psa.” 

They both laughed at that and it made Dominik’s heart skip a beat for and he wasn’t sure why. He finally made Bruno laugh out loud from his heart and made that was the reason, but he still couldn’t quite comprehend why.

“Znači vi i dalje niste sigurni u tu vezu?”, Dominik raised his eyebrow at that question and laughed awkwardly. “Da sam te upozno negdje drugdje, i da nismo suigrači, mislio bi da ti se sviđam.” Dominik just then realized what he had said out loud and regretted it immediately when he saw Bruno’s facial expression.


	3. CHAPTER THREE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it isn't as long as a wanted it to be but i just wanted this chapter to be over so i can write the next one which will be better i promise

Bruno’s face changed from bright to almost furious in no time. He, even though he was sitting, took a step back from the table, literally pushing away the chair he was sitting in.

Dominik, confused, scared and mixed feelings, smiled at Bruno in hopes of him getting calm. But Bruno now stood up and put some money on the table for his drink and in some kind of unnatural disgust said: “Nemoj me zvat.”, and he left.

Dominik was left sitting there, alone, his whole night ruined, their newly developed friendship ruined because of something stupid that got out of Dominik’s mouth unintentionally. 

He didn’t go home the moment Bruno left, he sat there for longer than he was supposed to, alone and on the verge of crying. He didn’t know why it struck him so bad that Bruno reacted so badly, but he realized he was hurt, and he didn’t understand all of the disgust he felt in Bruno’s voice.

When he came home and opened the doors, he saw Helena sitting on the same spot he was sitting just a few hours before when she came home from the walk with Cruz. “Jesi okej?”, she asked as soon as Dominik entered the house. He looked down, hurt and confused, but when he saw the concern on Helena’s face, he immediately changed his facial expression and he looked almost too excited to see her.

“Sve okej, samo sam umoran, idemo spavat.”, Helena laughed and continued “Spavat, pa tek je 11.”. Dominik smiled and came closer to Helena and kissed her long and as passionate as he was able to in this kind of mood. He detached from here and said: “Sutra imam trening u 10, a mogo bi ja šetat Cruza sutra ujutro, pa se moram naspavat.”. Helena nodded and kissed Dominik on the nose and almost too abruptly dragged him to the bedroom.

\--

As soon as Bruno left Johann and saw the first trash can he threw up in it. He couldn’t believe Dominik was so close to outing him, even though he didn’t mean anything bad, Bruno took it to heart because he knew it’s true.

But how do you tell your MALE teammate that you would like to do some things with him that aren’t just drinking coffee and going out.

Bruno knew just how wrong that is and that’s why he reacted like he did, he couldn’t be with Dominik if he was close to the realization that Bruno might like him.

Bruno was driving home and trying to figure out how will he not show up to the training tomorrow. He knew he had to because all of the trainings are really important, but how was he supposed to face Dominik after what just happened.

He decided ignoring is the best tactic. Even though that is extremely rude, and he knew that he had to save himself from outing himself or being outed to Dominik and in the end everyone else.

He realized the best thing to do is to find himself a girlfriend.

\--

The winter break came earlier than Dominik wanted it to, and he realized him, and Bruno hasn’t spoken since that night and he hated it. Mislav was reminding him of Bruno every day because they loved to hang out but each time Mislav and the other guys invited Dominik, just didn’t show up.

Dominik wouldn’t even notice him and Bruno not talking just because he was so overworked. He realized he was never home, and he was only working out, going to training and doing the games. He caught himself doing everything he can just to forget Bruno.

But he couldn’t.

Winter break started and now Dominik, not only wasn’t able to talk to Bruno, but wasn’t able to see him. It bothered him, now there was no Mislav talking about Bruno every day. 

Helena and he were still on good terms. They both realized they are distancing from each other, but they weren’t stopping it. And they still worked great together. Helena knew Dominik wasn’t here for a romantic relationship, but they got really close and they both liked living with each other and they both knew how weird it would be if they stopped it now.

Dominik spent his Christmas break at home, eating ice cream, Christmas cookies and food and Helena realized something had happened.

“A oćeš mi napokon reć šta je bilo?”, Helena approached Dominik who was wrapped in a fluffy blanket with Cruz on the couch searching for a new show to watch. “Šta bi bilo? Umor.”. Helena sarcastically smiled and raised an eyebrow and asked again, “Ajmo ponovo, šta je bilo?”.

Dominik was trying to form a sentence in his head, but nothing was coming out because he knew whatever he says it will sound weird and not like he wanted it to sound. After a minute of him trying to get something out of his mouth, he heard Helena almost whining above him, so he just blurted out: “Bruno i ja smo se nešto posvađali pa sad ne pričamo i ne javlja mi se.”.

Helena relaxed her eyebrows and sat down next to Dominik. She hugged him tightly and kissed him lightly on the nose. “I ti si sad zbog toga u tolkoj depresiji?”, Dominik lifted his look to her and nodded. She smiled and hugged him again. “E pa ne više. Idemo na Advent malo, nije me briga šta ti se neda.”, Dominik laughed and as much as he just wanted to stay in the house he agreed that a bit of going out wouldn’t hurt him.

They were in the car in no time, and on the way to the city center. The city looked beautiful with all of the Christmas lights that were wrapped around every naked tree branch. Every store or building they passed by was decorated with Christmas decorations and lights.

The city was crowded. Zagreb was always like that during Christmas time. It was one of the best traits of Zagreb, but the only problem was the overcrowdings.

Helena decided she wanted something sweet so they decided Zrinjevac and Fuliranje would be the best place to search for something sweet for her and Dominik decided he is hungry too. As they were approaching Zrinjevac many scents were swirling around them and they started to drool because of hunger and soon enough they found a perfect little store with hot dogs and Fritule.

Dominik got a hot dog and Helena enjoyed her Fritule with Nutella. They continued walking and eating and they ended up in the upper city where there were so many decorations and it was probably one of the most beautiful parts of Zagreb anyway and not just during the wintertime.

They sat down and bought some wine and talked. It was the first time in a long time that they talked and laughed together for more than 10 minutes and Dominik realized he missed it. He missed the feeling of closeness to Helena. The moment was so happy, they were close together because of the cold air and Dominik wrapped his hand around Helena so they could warm up more.

After a longer time, they decided it is getting late and they should go home because the air around them was getting even colder than before. As they picked up all of their things to leave Dominik heard a familiar voice behind him. He didn’t want to turn around because he knew who he would see, and he was right.

When he turned around he saw the one person he thought about every day, whose voice he missed for some weird reason and when he saw his face in the close distance it made his stomach twirl a bit. Bruno was talking to a bunch of his friends who weren’t people from the club.

He stood in place and Helena looked up at him to see his face almost scared. “Jesi okej?”, Dominik nodded and as much as he didn’t want Helena to worry he couldn’t remove his feelings that were unexpectedly raging inside of him.

Bruno suddenly pulled someone from between his friends and when Dominik realized it was a girl he felt his stomach drop. The girl was tall, beautiful with long hair and legs and Dominik could easily imagine Bruno kissing her and that was the thing he did just a moment after Dominik imagined it.

He realized he couldn’t contain the content of his stomach inside of him anymore and he unexpectedly ran to the big trash can where he vomited rapidly. With his head still in the bin, he prayed Bruno somehow didn’t see him and he just hoped Helena is right behind him.

He felt her hand on his back and he finally pulled himself up and looked her who was shocked and confused. “Domi, ljubavi, šta je bilo?”, Helena asked with a concerned look on her face. Dominik just brushed it off with a small lie and said: “Ma onaj hot dog mi očito nije dobro sjeo.”.

Helena knew that wasn’t the truth, but she didn’t want to go deeper into the story, so she just nodded and gave him a tissue. He wiped his mouth with it and thanked her. “Jesi siguran da si okej?”, “Da, da, ne brini.”, he hugged her unexpectedly and they continued walking. He turned around just one more time before and saw Bruno sitting and drinking with his big hand around that girl.

He turned back to Helena, put his arm around her, the same way Bruno was holding it around that girl and continued walking trying to forget what he just saw, but most importantly trying to erase the feelings he felt when he saw it.

—

Bruno saw Dominik from in the distance, but he didn’t react. He had this girl in front of him that he was supposed to be with it and enjoy and he didn’t enjoy even one bit. He saw Dominik was still staring at him and then he realized Helena next to him and as much as he knew he would hate himself for doing it, he took Sofija's hand and pulled her closer to him. She smiled brightly and licked her lips and he knew this is the part where he kisses her in front of Dominik. Bruno knew Dominik saw it but he didn't know how he would react and in the blink of an eye he saw Dominik disappear to the nearest trash can and he puked his guts out. Bruno knew he would hate himself for kissing her, and he hated seeing Dominik like that, but he was still scared of being outed. That was his worst fear and finding a girl and being with her was his best option and he knew he had to stop talking to Dominik because he knew where would their friendship take them and he knew Dominik felt it too.


	4. CHAPTER FOUR

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> helena mvp

First training after the winter break was always looser than usual trainings. Catching up with your teammates, hearing about what the coach has to say, what he did over the break, running in circles and just relaxing.

Dominik entered the dressing room feeling washed out and down. Bruno’s girlfriend was still bothering him somewhere in his mind and he hated the always present thought about her and Bruno together in his mind.

When he saw Bruno sitting at his usual place he felt the puke raising again in his stomach and it was almost funny. It was hilarious to him how one person could cause such unease and at the same time butterflies.

Bruno waved at him and smiled which somehow made Dominik feel even worse because he could feel that Bruno was the kind of person that would act like nothing happened during the winter break and that they are good. While they obviously weren’t.

They haven’t talked since the incident in Johann and Dominik decided he wanted to put a stop to it. But while he was changing to his training clothes, Bruno was already running out to the pitch and Dominik knew he will be able to talk to him only after the training.

\--

Training was relaxed, and Dominik liked it that way, he liked to ease in into it since he was only relaxing during the winter break and he didn’t want to vigorously start working out and training again.

Nenad talked to them about his winter break and how he and his family went on a trip to the Alps for skiing and he told a few funny stories which made all of the boys laugh a lot. Dominik caught up with his other friends and talked to Mislav who was a bit worried about him and why he was so tired and down lately.

Dominik brushed it off and Mislav stopped asking question because he knew Dominik would come to him and tell him everything as soon as whatever it was bothering him goes over the line of what Dominik can endure.

As Dominik sat down in the changing room he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he didn’t want to turn around. Because he sensed who was standing behind him and he was still unready, he still just wanted to be quiet and just not communicate but he also wanted to talk, he wanted to explore their friendship and maybe even more.

He stopped his thoughts there and turned around. “Hej.”, Bruno nodded toward him and quietly returned the hi. Dominik was quiet and looked straight into Bruno’s eyes who was trying to avoid the eye contact, but in the end their eyes met and Bruno finally spoke: “Oprosti za ovu glupost. Malo sam glupo reagiro.”. Dominik couldn’t believe Bruno apologized. He seemed likea person that would do anything but apologize.

Dominik smiled and nodded softly took Bruno’s hand off his shoulder. “Ne trebaš se ispričavat, al da glup potez.”, Bruno smiled and now, the same smile that made Dominik feel so uneasy at the beginning of the day now made his stomach jump from happiness.

“Al znaš moram ti reć malo si ojačo preko praznika, jel to gutaš neke specijalne proteine?”, Dominik started laughing at Bruno’s stupid assumptions and kicked him softly in the shoulder. “Ko zna? Neću ti sigurno otkrit svoju tajnu.”. Bruno smiled widely and hugged Dominik shortly.

Dominik felt some kind of electricity go through his body, travelling from head to toes. He knew everything he felt was as wrong as it could get, but he was far past feeling guilty about liking Bruno’s touch on his body, and he now just enjoyed this quick and simple hug he got.

“Još jednom oprosti, često burno reagiram na gluposti, trebam radit na tome.”, Dominik nodded in agreement and said: “Ajde, možemo uvijek ponovit ta izlazak i ispravit ga.”. He just hoped for Bruno to say yes and his happiness would grow even bigger.

But his happiness didn’t last as long as he wanted it to last and it definitely didn’t grow, “Ja sam za, al mislim da ovaj put trebamo napravit neki _Double date_, sad kad sam i ja zauzet.”, he grinned after that, but Dominik again felt his stomach jump, this time from the unease and he felt like he was going to vomit and he didn’t have any energy for that.

He calmed his thoughts and feelings down as much as he could and smiled brightly at Bruno and answered: “Ajme, pa ja nju još nisam ni upoznao, ja sam za, samo javi vrijeme i dan, Helena i ja dolazimo.”.

He hated himself for that, he hated the joyful sound in which he said that, he hated that sentence, he hated that girl and he didn’t even know her and hated that he would do anything for some, not even alone time, with Bruno outside training.

“Savršeno! Očekuj da ću te zvat danas kad se s njom dogovorim. Čujemo se.”, Bruno walked away and went back to his locker so he could get his stuff and change.

Dominik nodded as he was walking away and quickly changed and stuffed his training bag and almost ran out.

The vomiting was still coming and he felt it, but there was no subtle way to puke and a lot of his teammates were still at the parking lot.

He ran to his car and quickly got in and luckily he had some empty plastic bag in the side of his doors and he vomited his guts out into it. He hated that Bruno made him feel this way and he didn’t even know it.

\--

Bruno was driving home, knowing he had to call Sofija and he had to talk to her and he had to go out with her. But he knew it will all be worth it because of Dominik.

Drive home was amazing. He played his favorite songs and sang as loud as he could, because of the happiness he felt growing in him.

He parked his car perfectly in his spot and picked up his bag as he was getting from the car. As soon as he arrived at the apartment he put his training clothes to his dirty laundry basket, and he let himself fall on the bed.

He opened his phone and his finger was hoovering over Dominik’s contact and he had the biggest urge to call him, to just talk to him, and just arrange a date with him, and only him.

But he stopped his filthy thoughts and switched to Sofija’s contact. He pressed call and just after a few seconds she answered. “Reci ljubavi.”, she said in her sweet feminine voice that he liked and despised at the same time.

\--

Helena just made coffee and she was glad to see Dominik happy after a long time. He looked like he was glowing and she exactly what was up. “Pomirili ste se?”, she smiled softly and Dominik was trying to hide a big grin that was slowly forming on his face. “Možda.”, he didn’t want to chance anything because he really didn’t know what to think about the situation.

At that moment his phone rang and, of course, it was Bruno. His phone was on the kitchen counter where Helena was preparing coffee and she saw it was Bruno and she laughed slightly and said: “Pa upravo te zove.”.

Dominik practically ran to the kitchen and grabbed his phone from the kitchen counter and in a matter of seconds they were talking. “Hej.”.

“Hej hej, Sofija je rekla da što se nje tiče možemo ić već večeras, jeste vi za?”, Dominik listened to Bruno’s voice and he totally forgot what they had in plan since the training. “Oh, da da evo samo da pitam Helenu.”. Helena raised her eyebrow and asked what was up.

“Jesi za da idemo van večeras s Brunom i njegovom novom curom?”, Helena almost choked on her coffee and said: “On ima curu?”, Dominik nodded and made her hurry up with making a decision.

“Da, da naravno.”, she answered in a polite tone, but Dominik noticed she didn’t like that at all. “Možemo.”

“Odlično, ja rezerviram u Takenoku? Volite sushi?”, Dominik confirmed and ended the conversation. Helena came closer to him and hugged him. It was sudden, but Dominik didn’t mind it, he actually needed it and she realized it.

It was those small moments that he never wanted to let go of and that was also one of the reasons of why he would never be able to tell her his true feelings.

But maybe that wasn’t even necessary.

Helena detached her smaller body from Dominik and looked up at him. He looked younger than he is, but he looked so worried and like something was bothering him. “Mogu te nešto pitati? I ako sam u pravu, moraš znat da se ne ljutim.”.

Dominik looked at her slightly confused but he nodded slowly. She took him by the hand and made him sit down by the kitchen counter. She put down her cup of coffee and smiled at him.

“Znaš da imam jake senzore kad nešto nije u redu, i već neko vrijeme znam da se nešto događa s tobom i u početku nisam imala pojma što, ali mislim da znam odgovor.”, Dominik looked at her carefully and he realized his eyes are starting to water.

He tried to stop the tears, but they were just gathering in his eyes and they started to fall down his cheeks. “Hej, hej, nismo se tako dogovorili. Bez toga. Sve okej. Slušaj prvo.”, Helena’s motherly instinct turned on and she hugged Dominik again.

“Ajmo opet. Ne ljutim se na tebe. I neću se nikad ljutit na tebe.”, she was cut off by Dominik’s slow and almost inaudible whimper. “Ali… ali hoćeš.”, Helena wiped his tears and answered quietly but confidently, “Ne neću. Jer znam šta se događa. Nisam slijepa, vidim stvari, poznajem te.”.

Dominik tried to break out of her hug, but she held him pretty tightly. “Ne, vjeruj mi ne znaš. Grozan sam i gadim se sam sebi.”. Helena almost smacked him, but she stopped herself.

“Dominik znam da si gay.”

Those words echoed in their apartment way too long and way too loud for Dominik to be able to handle it. He almost started screaming, but Helena was still holding him, and she wasn’t planning on letting him go. “I ne ljutim se.”.

Dominik started sobbing, louder and louder as time was passing and Helena held him in her small, fragile hands like she was the strongest person alive.


	5. CHAPTER FIVE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jedan jako masan chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uzivajte

“I šta sad?”, Dominik asked concerned about Helena and everything that will happen now that the aching truth is out, and he isn’t the only one knowing it. “Ništa. Sve ostaje isto. Ti i ja možemo i dalje živit zajedno.”.

Dominik raised his eyebrow and made a confused face even though everything inside of him relaxed. “Ja tebe i dalje volim, i ne želim da tvoja karijera ispašta zbog odvratne homofobije u nogometu.”. Dominik felt tears coming to his eyes again, but this time he was sane enough to keep them inside and not let them pour out again.

“Hvala ti, ne mogu ti opisati koliko mi ovo znači.”, Helena hugged Dominik once again and asked him the question he knew will come up soon, “A šta s Brunom?”. Dominik tried to not answer, but Helena physically nudged him in, and he was basically forced to answer. “Ne znam jel homofob ili peder i ne znam na koji način da to otkrijem.”.

Helena smiled and ran her long fingers through her thick brown hair and put it to one side. “Danas idemo na večeru, ja ću ga propitat suptilno, a ti budi obziran i pristojan prema ovoj njegovoj.”.

Dominik wanted to make Helena a statue for everything she said and done for him just in the past few hours. He was so thankful for her and he was so thankful she didn’t freak out and that she won’t out him and ruin his career. He was grateful for her and her actions.

\--

Rain was pouring. Streets of Zagreb were as gloomy as they could get, there was little people on the streets and the ones that were out there were in hurry so they could get home or to some safe, warm place. Sky was gray and the rain was heavy.

Helena was driving because she knew Dominik wasn’t in the right state of mind to do it and she wanted to secure him and herself.

They arrived at the restaurant 10 minutes after the arranged time and they were still the first to arrive. Bruno and Sofija arrived just a few minutes after them. When Dominik saw them holding hands, he thought he would burst with tears or puke, but he held it in.

And smiled.

“Dobro večer!”, she almost exclaimed and greeted Helena and Dominik. Helena looked at Dominik and winked at him before putting on the biggest, fakest smile she could pull off. They hugged and Dominik and her shook hands which was enough for him to get sick again.

They entered the almost full restaurant which surprised Dominik considering there was no one on the streets and the city felt almost too empty.

They got a table for four in the corner of the restaurant and as soon as they sat down they were accompanied by a waiter who handed them their menus and beverage menus which were on a different piece of overly expensive, weirdly shaped cardboard.

They all laughed and talked too loudly, and anyone who was maybe observing it from the side could see something was off and everything was too fake and too plastic.

They decided what they will eat pretty soon, well everyone decided except for Sofija who let Bruno decide on everything for her. “On je moj snažni muškarac, naravno da mi on bira vino.”.

Helena wanted to take Dominik’s role and puke her guts out because of the disgust she felt towards Sofija, but she needed to stay classy, so she just cracked an even faker smile than before and let the silence send the message she wanted to send.

“Pa, golupčići, kako je u vašoj novo nastaloj vezi?”, Helena asked after the silence became too aggressive and she saw neither Bruno nor Dominik had an idea on what to start a conversation.

“Ide, lagano, ali ide.”, Bruno said carefully looking at Sofija who was picking out a piece of cardboard that was damaged. He was saved from more questions when waiter came to get back his menus and take the order.

After they all order some light pasta and salads and an expensive bottle of wine and the waiter was gone, Helena continued with her questioning which made Dominik laugh nervously. “A jel već živite zajedno ili?”.

Sofija looked at her like she said something so wrong and Helena didn’t know why that question would be so bad, so she just ignored Sofija’s stupid glare and turned her attention back to Bruno. “Pa?”, Bruno swallowed some of the thick saliva that gathered in his throat and barely said: “Ne ne, ne još.”.

Sofija heard the softness of Bruno’s voice and she hated it. She hated how unsure of them he was and she hated that he wasn’t able to speak up and say something good about her. “Ne još ali uskoro.”, she interrupted and continued with picking the cardboard.

Helena smirked and lifted one of her eyebrows and looked at Dominik with one part of her eye. Dominik smiled too which confirmed to Helena that he realized what she was going for. She realized that Bruno wasn’t so sure about Sofija and their relationship and he was trying to show it off.

The wine arrived just at the right time and as soon as Sofija got the glass in her hand Helena realized their conversation was about to get messy because Sofija chugged down the whole glass in just a few seconds. Bruno didn’t even want to look at her, but he knew he wasn’t the one to tell her anything.

Helena waited for Sofija to pour herself another glass of wine and just as she wanted to continue with the questions, Dominik asked something that she wouldn’t think of, “Kako podnosiš to što Bruno mora stalno trenirati i ponekad nema vremena za tebe?”. Helena grinned and thought to herself how clever of a question that was. She never thought of that because Dominik always gave 100% of himself when he came home and as soon as he stopped doing that she knew something was wrong.

But, both her and Dominik knew Bruno wasn’t like that. And they knew Sofija would be upset with that question. And she was. She didn’t know how to answer. She looked around and then her look fixed on Bruno who was also clueless on how to answer it. But he crumpled something up inside his brain and finally blurted out: “Ja uvijek imam vremena za nju.”.

All four of them knew that was a lie, especially Sofija who, when she was sleeping over and when she spent time at Bruno’s house knew he would rather spend time on his phone and laptop then do anything with her when she wanted it. He just fucked her here and there when he was frustrated or bored to that extent. And the sex was bad, emotionless movements that didn’t produce enjoyment for neither of them. But they still did it.

And she hated it. She hated it more than anything. She hated Bruno for being such an asshole to her, but she knew something was up with him and she knew something was happening from the first day they started dating. But she loved money and fame more than anything to just let it all go.

Bruno sighed and started getting nervous and fidgety in his seat. And he wanted to chug down the whole wine bottle, but he knew he wasn’t supposed to. And he hated how he looked like the biggest asshole in front of Helena and Dominik, especially in front of Dominik.

Because Dominik was the only person he cared about at the moment and he seemed like such a jerk. Helena started tapping with her nails on the table visibly showing how hungry and frustrated she is, but thankfully the food arrived which meant end of the dreadful conversation for now.

They all ate in silence, and Bruno couldn’t take it, so he started a conversation with Dominik because he was the reason he wanted to go out like this in the first place.

“I kako si proveo praznike? Zadar? Obitelj?”, Dominik smiled softly at the question and nodded. “Da, da. Bio sam dole sam pa je Helena došla nakon Božića. Ti?”. Dominik looked at Bruno’s smile, but it turned into an uncomfortable facial expression as he tried to answer the question. “Ma, moja obitelji ja nismo nešto u dobrim odnosima.”, he sighed and tried to stop the conversation, but Sofija interrupted. “Ma, to mi je toliko nevjerojatno. On, ovako uspješan, mlad momak a nije u dobrim odnosima s obitelji, pa kakvi su to ljudi?”. Bruno tried to not take it to heart, but he hated when someone talked about him and his family and they knew nothing about it.

Dominik tried to change the topic, but Sofija continued talking about Bruno’s family which made Bruno too uncomfortable to sit there anymore. He abruptly stood up from the table. “Moram do WC-a, ispričavam se.”.

Dominik looked after him and swung his look back to Sofija who sat there shocked and upset. Dominik stood up and looked at Helena. She nodded and pushed him softly as a sign to go after him.

Dominik found the bathroom quickly and when he entered, there was no one there. It was a big, marble decorated bathroom and the mirrors were maybe a bit too big. Dominik looked at himself in the reflection and he would start crying, but he heard someone else cry in one of the stalls.

“Bruno?”, he said, and it echoed through the whole bathroom. Bruno sniffed and tried to pull himself together and he finally slowly said: “Dobro sam, sve je okej, odi nastavi jest.”. Dominik sighed and came closer to the closed stall and knocked on it. “Neću otić dok ne izađeš.”.

Bruno sniffed a few more times and finally unlocked the stall. He slowly opened the stall doors and looked at Dominik who was standing there, waiting for Bruno to come out so they could talk.

“Stvarno sam okej.”, Dominik raised his eyebrow and smiled. “Ne nisi, i ne moraš mi reć zašto, al kad si tužan uvijek treba imat nekog uz sebe.”.

Bruno’s eyes sparkled and got soft. His eyes filled with tears again, but this time Dominik handed him a tissue and hugged him tightly. Bruno quickly wiped the tears away and hugged Dominik back. His hands were stronger and bigger than Dominik’s, so his hug felt safer, and Dominik enjoyed it, maybe a bit too much.

Bruno lifted his head up and almost whispered “Hvala ti.”. It made Dominik feel special for a quick moment. He knew this was the closest he would ever be to Bruno, or so he thought.

As Dominik detached from Bruno’s hug, he suddenly felt Bruno’s hands on his face and then, out of nowhere, he felt his lips on his and he felt all of the emotions storming through him. Bruno detached is lips from Dominik’s and as Dominik wanted to speak, Bruno kissed him again, this time slipping his tongue inside Dominik’s lips.

Dominik was in awe. He was so surprised, and his mind was racing, but he couldn’t think of anything clearly because of the enjoyment he felt as Bruno’s tongue was exploring his mouth.

Bruno quickly moved them both into the stall he was crying in just minutes ago and started unbuttoning Bruno’s shirt which was neatly tucked in in his pants and freshly bought. “Bruno, možda neko uleti…”, but Bruno didn’t care. He already done the forbidden and he liked it.

He liked the taste of Dominik’s lips and he wasn’t stopping now. Dominik touched Bruno’s face as they continued kissing and when he felt his shirt was open he knew he would get hard. And when Bruno started kissing his chest it happened.

Bruno saw it happen, and he knew what he was supposed to do now. He started unbuttoning Dominik’s pants and at the same time he was kissing his stomach which made Dominik moan maybe a bit too loud.

As Bruno was pulling Dominik’s pants of off him they heard someone come in. Bruno stopped and stood up as quiet as he could, and Dominik’s heart started racing. He looked at Bruno with complete fright in his eyes and Bruno gestured him to be quiet.

The man completed his natural needs, washed his hands and got out pretty quickly. And by the time he was out, Dominik’s boner was gone. Bruno looked at him, with his shirt undone, pants unbuttoned and pulled halfway down, and he started laughing.

Dominik looked at Bruno in disbelief, but he saw the pure laughs that were coming out of him and he smiled and realized how funny the situation actually is and started laughing too.

They calmed down son enough and Dominik pulled his pants up and buttoned them and the shirt. He tucks it back in into the pants and smiled widely. “Jesam opet pristojan?”, Bruno smiled and nodded.

He kissed Dominik again and quietly said, “A sad, ko da ništa nije bilo.”


End file.
